Bleep

In the last few years the music of North America and Europe, of the frozen industrial-minimal-cold-wave circa late 70s-early 80s has witnessed a burning renaissance. Reissue labels like Minimal Wave, revival outfits like Cold Cave and forthcoming compilations from Angular and Stones Throw have seen to that. This collection of landmark group Ike Yard's first two releases (their Factory LP and an EP for Les Disques de Crepuscule and several previously unreleased tracks) is more than worthy of reappraisal.

Founded in 79', New York City, the quartet of Kenneth Compton (bass/vox), Stuart Argabright (vox,piano, synth), Michael Diekmann (electric guitar, synth) and Fred Szymanski (synth, programming) were heavily influenced by the fiery vitriol of punk , avant-garde schooling of Cage, Reich, Young, and obtuse no-wave noise . Plugging into a stack of analogue synths (Arp, EMS Synthi, Korg MS20/50, Buchla Modular) they crafted a new sound also informed by the Teutonic experimentation of Can, Neu!, DAF, the liberating improv of electric-era Miles Davis and the pulsing atmosphere of UK post-punk dub heroes PiL and Joy Division/Hannett. Indeed, Tony Wilson heard enough and made them Factory's first American signing.

The pieces on offer here have an aggressive, energetic dynamic - proto-techno drum machines beat and clatter against the sound of scraping metal, angular guitar riffs slash and rip through arpeggiated mid range synth patterns pummeling on top of sub-bass frequency matter, whilst strangled monochrome vocals swarm. This is music like little else, expressionist, radical, strangely groovy, definitely ahead of its era. The band dissolved in 83', now almost twenty years on the band -minus Szymanski- have reconvened for a brand new EP and a host of thrilling side projects.